Improvement in



. J. W. STARNES.

Quilting Attachment for Sewing-Machines.

No. 222,208. Patented Dec. 2, 187 9.

. NJ'ETERS, FHOTO UTHOGRAPHEIL WASHINGTON. D C

STATES,

PATENT OFFIoE.

JOHN W. STARNES, or MAOOMB, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT IN QUILTING ATTACHMENTS FOR SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,208, dated December 2, 1879; application filed I May 10, 1879. v

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. STARNEs, of

Macomb, in the'county of- McDonough and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Quilting Attachments for Sewing-Machine's; and'I hereby declare that the following is a'full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same, reference sewing-machine; andit consists in providing a suitable frame, B, elevated above the floor A to a suitable height by means of suitable curved legs, the upper ledges of the frame forming tracks for the wheels S S S S. Undernea th this frame a carriage, O, issuspended by means of the uprights e e, which, at their lower ends, are firmly attached to the carriage 0, their upper ends forming bearings for the axles of. the wheels S SS S.

The'carriage G is provided with suitable friction-wheelsWW, which keep the carriage in the proper position, those on the outside preventing the uprights e e from coming in con- I tact with or rubbing against the sides of the frame B, and those on top of the carriage and underneath the frame B preventing the carriage from tipping and causing friction by rubbing against the under side of the frame B. Suspended below the carriage O by means of the bars n n n nis an adjustable quiltingframe, which is composed of two head-pieces, a. a, and two side rods, 0 0. At one end of each of these rods are firmly attached disks 1' t, which are provided with a series of holes near the outer edges, into which the hooksd d are placed for the purpose of holding the rods 0 O securely in any position that they may be placed in when rolling and unrollin g the quilt. These rods also have attached to them suitable hooked teeth for fastening the quilt to the rods, (a part of thequilt being cut away to show them.) p

'v 1; represent tension-springs, which are for the purpose of keeping the proper tension on the quilt while being quilted.

The sewing-machine to be used is placed on the floor A under the quilt R, in such a position that the quilt will pass either way over the machine, and it may be adjusted to the proper height by means of the piIISjj, which pass through the head-pieces a a, and through one of the series of the holes in the bars a n. By these means the quilt can be adjusted so as to keep it from dragging over the face-plate of the sewing-machine. This arrangement for adjusting has another essential feature, which is to keep the quilt in a level position. For instance, when the quilt is first commenced, or when it is about finished, nearly the whole fabric will be wound around one of the rods 0 0'; consequently that sideof the quilt will be thelowest and will drag on the sewing-machine. To remedy this the operator withdraws the pins j j on the low side and raises up the-frame until thequiltis'level, and then places the pins j j back through holes higher up in the bars a n; and in like manner either side of the quilt canbe raised or lowered and kept in such position that it will feed through the sewing-machine without dragging in any way..

The weight P is for the purpose of assisting the sewing-machine in feedingthe quilt. by gently drawing the carriage, bymeansof the cord 25, which is attached to said carriage and passes over the friction-wheels on the standard. These wheels can be placed on theside of a room and the standard dispensed with.

By this mode of construction and arrangement of the machine the work is done evenly and in straight lines without being guided by the operator. I

It will be observed that the frame B is provided with curved legs, which curvesare suflicient to allow the carriage G and quilting-frame to pass either way between them, which is for the purpose of shortening up theframe B, so that it will be more convenient and require less space.

I do not confine. myself to the exact form and construction of the frame B, as shown, as it can be made in various ways which will answer the same purpose. For instance, it will operate just as well with. a single track and two wheels, or it will operate with only one wheel on a single track, as the friction-wheels W V WV W will always keep the carriage O in the proper position. i

Having thus fully described my invention, of the head-pieces aa, rods 0 (),provided with what I claim as new, and desire to secure by hooked teeth, bars n n, disks ii,tension-spriugs Letters Patent, is- 12 v, hooks d d, pins j j, cord t, and weight P,

1. The frame B, provided with the curved all combined and operating substantially as legs and double track, in combination with the shown and described, for the purpose specified.

carriage 0, provided with the uprights e 6, J. W. STARN ES. wheels S S S S, and friction-wheels W W, sub- Witnesses: stantially as described. THOS. J. PRICE,

2. An adjustable quilting-frame composed W. '1. PRICE. 

